London Marathon blog: 15 weeks to go

Week 15 and the furthest I have run is 15 miles, and it nearly killed me.

“Well if you can run 15, and you know you can walk 10, you can finish it.”

Piam Brown Ward charity logo

“I don’t want to just finish it, mum, I want to run it. And not die.”

Besides after last Friday’s 15 miles I couldn’t have walked another 10, let alone the 11.2 that is needed to finish the marathon.

And so, for the first time this week, I have turned to the experts in the matter and I am applying myself properly.

Most training plans I’ve seen are 12 weeks so I have found one that Paula Radcliffe recommends and I am roughly trying to apply it.

The trouble is, it’s dark out there and it’s cold, and it’s one thing going for an hour’s jog on my own - it’s another to traipse round 15 miles (which takes me hours).

Last week I made the mistake of going further than expected, complete with Floyd (unfortunately he’s not an athletic looking personal trainer, he’s a small stick obsessed Cocker Spaniel), and by the evening we were both hobbling.

So now it’s 8/9 miles with the dog, home to hydrate and drop him off, then the last gruelling miles of the long run on my own.

But luckily according to Paula one long run a week is fine, and I even get one rest day after (not the three I’d prefer).

So this week I’ve aimed for a four run minimum, plus two days ‘core training’.

It turns out my un-opened Davina McCall DVD has 30 minutes of ‘core training’ on it, so I gave that a pop this morning.

Mostly this involved me lying to the carpet trying to hold my body in unnatural positions eg. the plank.

I’m convinced this did little, or nothing, for me and Floyd’s random intrusions in the process didn’t help.

But what Paula says I do, and if it makes the running easier I will try anything.

Tomorrow I have to try and find seven miles in the morning before Saturday’s long run.

Wish me luck or even better sponsor me, I could do with the encouragement.